Sheriff’s investigators arrested an apparent theft crew from Bakersfield after they allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of top shelf hooch and got nabbed in an attempted getaway.
According to Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla, on May 8 at 11:20 a.m. “detectives from the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit observed a vehicle speeding on Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo. The Detectives initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle at northbound Highway 101 at Reservoir Canyon Road in rural San Luis Obispo.” Reservoir Canyon Road is near the foot of the Cuesta Grade.
Inside the vehicle, detectives reportedly saw, “a large quantity of unopened, high-dollar value alcohol and other items inside the vehicle,” Cipolla said, “which was determined to have been stolen minutes earlier from the Costco store in San Luis Obispo.” Costco is located on Los Osos Valley Road near the Hwy 101 interchange.
The bottles of liquor included Johnnie Walker’s Double Black Scotch Whiskey, Blanco Tequila, and Silver Patron Tequila, along with clothing by Champion and Kirkland, and other items totaling more than $3,000.
The four occupants of the vehicle — two men and two women all from Bakersfield — were detained. Two of them were reportedly “known gang members from Kern County,” Cipolla said. One of the women had a no-bail felony warrant.
The suspects were identified as: Cinthia Olivia Cervantes Rizo, 36, Adam Joseph Velasquez, 36, David Diaz, 43, and Krystle Monique Gonzales, 34, all are from Bakersfield.
Though seemingly caught red-handed, Cipolla said under the current “statewide Emergency Bail Schedule, issued by the California Judicial Council, bail for most misdemeanor and felony offenses must be set at $0.”
Rizo had the felony warrant, according to Cipolla, and was held in County Jail. Velasquez, Diaz and Gonzales were booked and released from jail and Major Crimes will reportedly file charges with the District Attorney’s Office for suspicion of grand theft. The booze was of course confiscated as evidence.
